If only Noel Clarke had waited a little longer. If he had waited longer then he could have fixed the script and/or got a bigger studio to back him. This would have put this movie into the big leagues - a British Minority Report if you will.
Noel Clarke plays Ryan, a PTSD soldier who wakes up in a mysterious place not knowing how he got there. He continues to black out, only becoming himself for a period of ten minutes. It turns out he's being controlled by another personality that has taken over his body and soon learns that the one controlling him has a dangerous objective.
This is a great concept, almost like a Memento with the way the narrative flows. The way the story unfolds is intriguing and has you wanting to discover what's going on as much as our protagonist.
However there are draw backs which is what I think is what has led to it's low score. The characters aren't very engaging to start. Clarke has proved to be a great actor but he's given himself little to work with here. The B grade villains and weird as hell cops don't help either. Ian Somerhalder is the only one who exerts any form of charisma and is given brief moments to truly shine. Others, however, fall flat.
Another thing that bogs the script down is the number of frankly unbelievable plot contrivances. Some characters will make huge logic leaps to further the plot, while other times what our protagonist wants is simply handed to him on a silver plate. I suspect that this may be due to a low budget though which sadly makes the visual FX less than impressive.
Another awkward part is the numerous fight scenes. Clarke is many things but he is not a martial artist and it shows quite a bit. The choreography is the standard Bourne rip off filler and it isn't executed very well. Rather than letting it play out in an intense way, the editor opted to constantly speed ramp parts from fast to slow which can look flashy but when it's in every fight scene it gets tiresome.
This film could have been great, with more time taken on the script and a Luc Besson type director to give the overall film more of a personality. Perhaps this is a rare instance where more money would have helped a lot.
As it is, The Anomaly is an interesting watch, but ultimately a bit forgettable which is a shame with such a good idea.
Noel Clarke plays Ryan, a PTSD soldier who wakes up in a mysterious place not knowing how he got there. He continues to black out, only becoming himself for a period of ten minutes. It turns out he's being controlled by another personality that has taken over his body and soon learns that the one controlling him has a dangerous objective.
This is a great concept, almost like a Memento with the way the narrative flows. The way the story unfolds is intriguing and has you wanting to discover what's going on as much as our protagonist.
However there are draw backs which is what I think is what has led to it's low score. The characters aren't very engaging to start. Clarke has proved to be a great actor but he's given himself little to work with here. The B grade villains and weird as hell cops don't help either. Ian Somerhalder is the only one who exerts any form of charisma and is given brief moments to truly shine. Others, however, fall flat.
Another thing that bogs the script down is the number of frankly unbelievable plot contrivances. Some characters will make huge logic leaps to further the plot, while other times what our protagonist wants is simply handed to him on a silver plate. I suspect that this may be due to a low budget though which sadly makes the visual FX less than impressive.
Another awkward part is the numerous fight scenes. Clarke is many things but he is not a martial artist and it shows quite a bit. The choreography is the standard Bourne rip off filler and it isn't executed very well. Rather than letting it play out in an intense way, the editor opted to constantly speed ramp parts from fast to slow which can look flashy but when it's in every fight scene it gets tiresome.
This film could have been great, with more time taken on the script and a Luc Besson type director to give the overall film more of a personality. Perhaps this is a rare instance where more money would have helped a lot.
As it is, The Anomaly is an interesting watch, but ultimately a bit forgettable which is a shame with such a good idea.